Bolster heath or cushion moorland is a type of vegetation community that features a patchwork of very low growing, tightly packed plants found at the limits of some

alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...

environments. The

cushion plant A cushion plant is a compact, low-growing, mat-forming plant that is found in alpine, subalpine, arctic, or subarctic environments around the world. The term "cushion" is usually applied to woody plants that grow as spreading mats, are limited in ...

s form a smooth surfaced 'cushions' from several different plants, hence the common name of cushion heath. The cushion growth habit provides protection against the desiccating wind and help keep the cluster warm. Bolster heath is very slow growing and thus very fragile. Most propagation is by slow expansion, although two species, ''

Abrotanella forsteroides ''Abrotanella forsteroides'', commonly known as the Tasmanian cushion plant, is an endemic angiosperm of Tasmania, Australia. The plant is a dicot species of the daisy family Asteraceae and can be identified by its bright green and compact cushi ...

'' and '' Pterygopappus lawrencei'' produce enough viable seed to survive fire. The other species are generally permanently destroyed by fire. The soil in bolster heath is generally quite poor, often gravel with a thin layer of

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...

Tasmanian bolster heaths

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

* ''

'' ('' Abrotanella'') * ''

Ewartia meredithiae ''Ewartia meredithiae'', commonly known as the rusty cushion plant, is a Tasmanian endemic cushion plant species. Out of the four species in Australia from this small genus, Tasmania has three, all of which are low growing, alpine species. Des ...

'' ('' Ewartia'') * '' Pterygopappus lawrencei'' ('' Pterygopappus'')

Caryophyllaceae Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranthaceae, Cactacea ...

* ''Colobanthus pulvinatus'' (''

Colobanthus ''Colobanthus'' is a large genus of small, cushion-like herbaceous plants in the family Caryophyllaceae, sometimes known as "pearlworts", a name they share with plants of the related genus ''Sagina''. ''C. quitensis'' is the world's southernmost ...

'') * ''

Scleranthus biflorus ''Scleranthus biflorus'' is a cushion-bush found in Australia and New Zealand. Other common names include the knawel and two-flowered knawel or twin-flower knawel. A common plant in grassland, particularly at higher altitudes. It may be in the f ...

'' (''

Scleranthus ''Scleranthus'', the knawels, are a genus of herbaceous plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. Selected species *''Scleranthus annuus ''Scleranthus annuus'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae Caryophyllaceae, comm ...

'')

Donatiaceae

* ''

Donatia novae-zelandiae ''Donatia novae-zelandiae'' is a species of cushion plant in the family Donatiaceae and is closely related to species in the family Stylidiaceae. It is found in the alpine and subalpine regions of New Zealand and Tasmania.Wagstaff, S.J. and Weg ...

'' (''

Donatia ''Donatia'' is a genus of two cushion plant species in the family Stylidiaceae. The name commemorates Vitaliano Donati, an Italian botanist. ''Donatia'' has been placed in the subfamily Donatioideae, described by Johannes Mildbraed in his 1908 ...

'')

Epacridaceae The Ericaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with c.4250 known species spread across 124 genera, making it th ...

* ''

Dracophyllum minimum ''Dracophyllum minimum'', commonly known as heath cushionplant or claspleaf heath, is a species of bolster cushion plant endemic to Tasmania, Australia. It is a low growing, highly compacted plant with white flowers, commonly found in alpine areas ...

'' (''

Dracophyllum ''Dracophyllum'' is a genus of plants belonging to the family Ericaceae, formerly Epacridaceae. There are 61 species in the genus, mostly shrubs, but also cushion plants and trees, found in New Zealand, Australia, Lord Howe Island and New Caledon ...

'')

Loganiaceae The Loganiaceae are a family of flowering plants classified in order Gentianales. The family includes up to 13 genera, distributed around the world's tropics. There are not any great morphological characteristics to distinguish these taxa from o ...

* ''Mitrasacme archeri'' ('' Mitrasacme'')

Scrophulariaceae The Scrophulariaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the figwort family. The plants are annual and perennial herbs, as well as shrubs. Flowers have bilateral (zygomorphic) or rarely radial (actinomorphic) symmetry. The Scr ...

* ''Chionohebe ciliolata'' ('' Chionohebe'')

Stylidiaceae The family Stylidiaceae is a taxon of dicotyledonous flowering plants. It consists of five genera with over 240 species, most of which are endemic to Australia and New Zealand. Members of Stylidiaceae are typically grass-like herbs or small shrub ...

* '' Phyllachne colensoi'' (''

Phyllachne ''Phyllachne'' is a genus of four cushion plant species in the family Stylidiaceae. Of the four species, two are endemic to New Zealand, while '' P. colensoi'' is also native to Tasmania and '' P. uliginosa'' is entirely endemic to sout ...

'')

Thymelaeaceae The Thymelaeaceae are a cosmopolitan family of flowering plants composed of 50 genera (listed below) and 898 species.Zachary S. Rogers (2009 onwards)A World Checklist of Thymelaeaceae (version 1) Missouri Botanical Garden Website, St. Louis. It ...

* ''Pimelea pygmaea'' (''

Pimelea ''Pimelea'', commonly known as rice flowers, is a genus of plants belonging to the family Thymelaeaceae. There are about 150 species, including 110 in Australia and thirty six in New Zealand. Description Plants in the genus ''Pimelea'' are he ...

'')

Centrolepidaceae Centrolepidaceae are a family of flowering plants now included in Restionaceae following APG IV (2016). The botanical name has been recognized by most taxonomists. The APG II system, of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system, 1998), also recognis ...

* ''Centrolepis monogyna'' (''

Centrolepis ''Centrolepis'' is a genus of small herbaceous plants in the family Restionaceae known as thorn grass scales, with about 25 species native to Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, and south-east Asia as far north as Hainan Dao. APG III system class ...

'') * ''Centrolepis muscoides'' (''

'') * ''Gaimardia fitzgeraldii'' (''

Gaimardia ''Gaimardia'' is a genus of plants in the Restionaceae family. It has a disjunct distribution in New Zealand, New Guinea, Tasmania and extreme southern South America. APG III system classifies this genus in the Centrolepidaceae family. Speci ...

'') * ''

Gaimardia setacea ''Gaimardia setacea'' is a species of plant of the Restionaceae family. It is found in New Zealand (on the South Island and the Stewart Islands), New Guinea and Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map ...

'' (''

'')

Cyperaceae The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus ''Carex'' w ...

* ''Carpha rodwayi'' (''

Carpha The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) is a regional public health agency headquartered in Trinidad and Tobago which was established by CARICOM leaders in July 2011 and began operation in 2013. CARPHA combines the functions of five pre-exi ...

'') * ''Oreobolus acutifolius'' (''

Oreobolus ''Oreobolus'' is a genus of flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel ...

'') * ''Oreobolus oligocephalus'' (''

'') * ''Oreobolus oxycarpus'' (''

'') * '' Oreobolus pumilio'' (''

'')

References

*Forest Practices Authority. (2007)
Threatened Native Vegetation Community Information Sheet: Cushion moorland
Accessed online: 22 June 2008. Biogeography Heaths